The Land >>

The Woodland

Location

Marros South is located within the Parish of Marros, (between Pendine and Amroth),
in the farthest south west corner of Carmarthenshire. The site itself lies upon
the western end of a Carboniferous Limestone ridge which forms Mynydd Marros,
(Grid Ref: SN19000930). This borders the county of Pembrokeshire and has stunning
views over a wooded valley to the sea beyond; with Tenby and Caldey Island to
be seen in the distance.

Landscape

The site lies within the matrix of pasture, arable and woodland that forms
this part of rural Carmarthenshire. The Coed Marros Cooperative site constitutes
133 acres of a 173 acre conifer plantation known as the Marros Woods. The altitude
of the site varies from 80-150m and has a south-south west aspect. There is
approximately 0.9km of Stream frontage forming the county boundary with Pembrokeshire.
This flows through a steep sided, narrow, v-shaped valley along the western
edge of the site. The upper slopes of the valley are covered with bracken, boulders,
conifers and broadleaved regeneration; whilst the lower slopes and the stream
are lined with native broadleaved woodland. The plantation itself consists of
a mixture of conifers; including European Larch, Lodge Pole Pine, Scots Pine,
Western Hemlock and Sitka Spruce. The density of the plantation varies and there
are numerous rides and clearings, with natural broadleaved regeneration. At
present there are no ponds on site.

History

Marros South falls within the historic landscape area of Marros Mountain. Archaeological
survey has shown that during the Medieval period Marros Mountain, which includes
the area of the site, formed part of the demesne of the Lordship of Laugharne
and was cultivated as an open field system associated with a small settlement.
However by 1595, and probably even earlier, the area was under a regime of rough
grazing or moorland - ‘Mountain’ (Laugharne Corporation) and the
settlement had been deserted (Murphy 1998). In the Post-Medieval period, probably
as late as the late 18th or early 19th century, several small-holdings were
carved out of the heath. One of these, Merrimans Gate (Marros Tithe map, c.
1840), falls within the plantation area and would have occupied part of the
Coed Marros site. The settlement was abandoned by the later 19th-century. In
the 1980s much of the evidence for the Medieval open field system was erased
during land improvement. The existing plantation on the site dates from the
late 1950’s and early 1960’s.